This invention relates to the catalytic conversion of benzene to toluene, essentially in the absence of an added methylation agent.
The catalytic self-alkylation of benzene to toluene, essentially in the absence of methane as alkylation agent, is known and has been described in The Journal of the American Chemical Society, Volume 69, 1947, page 710. However, this prior art process requires high reaction pressures (over 200 atm.). The present invention provides an improved process for converting benzene to toluene, at commercially more feasible reaction conditions, in particular at relatively low pressures. Conversion of benzene to toluene is commercially important because benzene is carcinogenic, whereas toluene is not.